


How Can I Tell If He Loves Me So?

by kanoitrace



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Drabble, M/M, Pre-Relationship, especially phichit, victor and phichit are more just mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-26
Updated: 2019-10-26
Packaged: 2021-01-03 19:17:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21184610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kanoitrace/pseuds/kanoitrace
Summary: Yuuri knows the world sees him as a charity case that Victor has chosen to take under his wing out of boredom. Yuuri knows better.





	How Can I Tell If He Loves Me So?

**Author's Note:**

> I've been feeling not great lately, which, along with the Grand Prix series actually happening right now, has led to me delving back into some Yuri on Ice. This was just written as a little prompt-led challenge to myself, so not great, per say, but figured I might as well post it. Not beta'd, but I have looked over it. Still, expect some typos or weird grammar, I guess ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
> 
> Title (and, in part, this fic) inspired by Betty Everett's "The Shoop Shoop Song (It's In His Kiss)".

To the bystanders (the outsiders), it may not seem like much. It may, in fact, seem like Yuuri is some charity case that the great Victor Nikiforov has taken pity on and is coaching as, what? Some sort of publicity stunt, maybe? But Yuuri knows better. Perhaps at first he didn’t; he was simply taking advantage of what he’d deemed Victor’s temporary insanity as Minako-sensei had advised. Over time, though, he’d learned differently.

It’s in the way Victor looks at him, his blue eyes bright and ever-vigilant, not simply for mistakes or errors on the ice, but at all times - when they eat together, when they spend time at the beach together, when they are doing nothing, even (especially) when Yuuri knows Victor thinks he isn’t watching. One is not as anxiety-ridden as Yuuri without being hyper-aware of when eyes are on oneself.

It’s also in the way Victor coaches. He is firm, but blunts the sharp edges of his words and inexperience with a gentleness and understanding of Yuuri that no on else has ever shown him, least of all a coach. Somehow he just seems to know which calls are important for Yuuri to make and which ones need to be wrested from him, whether Yuuri seems to agree with that at first or not. It isn’t that Victor is a good coach - no, he’d likely be terrible for almost anyone else in the world. He is inexperienced and awkward and sometimes has the emotional intelligence and tact of the small lizards that always seem to get into the resort during the summer. But still, somehow, he is uniquely attuned to Yuuri’s needs.

And lastly, it’s in the gentleness of his touch. Victor is a tactile person; Yuuri is not. However, somehow Victor just seems to know what is too much and what is just the right amount. The way he guides while coaching is often a soft, feathery sort of touch, one that doesn’t raise Yuuri’s hackles but still manages to somehow set his skin on fire. And sometimes, he will intersperse a firmer touch, one that leaves Yuuri thinking about Victor and his hands far later into the night than is perhaps healthy for a myriad of reasons. None of this even takes into account the touches outside of practice times. Of course, as stated, Victor is a tactile person, and he is also Victor - an over-the-top, dramatic, “extra” (as Phichit would say) individual - so sometimes he can push a little too much. Sometimes this is unintentional, other times it is clearly meant to mean __something__.

So Yuuri knows that he is not simply a charity case for Victor Nikiforov. And he intends to show the world that in his skating.

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/kanoitrace) and to a far lesser extent [Tumblr](http://kanoitrace.tumblr.com/).


End file.
